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Well Done Will

Will Hutton realises that he\’s a bit of a porker. OK, fair enough. He joins WeightWatchers to lose weight. He loses weigh. OK, fair enough. So we\’ll see him heading the advertising along with Sarah Ferguson soon, will we? Err, no.

We also need a comprehensive assault on how towns are planned and transport organised. Initiatives have to work locally, regionally, nationally and at European level. It is as big a challenge as climate change. As for me, I have lost 13 pounds and feel better than I have for 20 years, but it is a fragile achievement. In today\’s environment, most weight loss is quickly reversed. We need change and we need it urgently.

So, there you have it. Elderly man finding it difficult to keep the weight off requires a radical change in the entire structure of society. There\’s really no one quite so self-centered a our Will, is there? Would he call for prohibition if he found it difficult to stay off the sauce?

The quest for growth in volume and margins is relentless, driving higher portion sizes,

Will, for fuck\’s sake man. You\’re supposed to know something about this economics shit. Food is a cost to manufacturers and restauranteurs. A quest for a growth in margins leads to a "reduction" in portion sizes, as they try to reduce those food costs.

8 thoughts on “Well Done Will”

  1. If I understand it right, Will wants credit for having lost weight but will blame others if he gains it back. I’d suggest that the two-step process of eating less and moving around more is too complex for him.

  2. “Would he call for prohibition if he found it difficult to stay off the sauce?”

    Well, possibly. One of the most disgusting things that we saw around the smoking ban, in my opinion, were all of those smokers who said that they welcomed the ban because they wanted to give up and thought that stopping everyone else smoking would help.

    If you want to give up, then do so, you weak-willed fool; but do not punish me because you are too fucking crap to do it yourself.

    DK

  3. Yes, food is a cost. But the extra cost of a super-sized portion is less than the amount they are able to charge for that – overhead and service costs being similar. So the standard portion covers their costs, but the extra-large topping makes them the profit. Significant point is, you choose to opt for the larger portion. It’s all your own responsibility what passes your lips.

  4. I was going to submit a comment on the Guardian site, but several others have beaten me to it. I recommend bobdoney’s:

    “What would work for me would be if I lived on a slightly colder planet, so my suggestion is for the Earth to be blasted a few million miles further from the Sun. Perhaps we could siphon off a few trillion euros from the Galileo project to achieve this.

    I realise that this is a rather expensive way of pandering to the whims of one fat geezer in suburban Surrey, but I reckon it’s my turn. After Mr Hutton has had his of course.”

  5. I just read an article in the Washington Post, in which a 230 lb man complained about feeling uncomfortable in airplanes – seems there isn’t as much room as there used to be. Airlines’ fault, of course, and that of fellow passengers who won’t let him spill over into their space. He and Mr Hutton should get together – they sound like soulmates.

  6. So Much For Subtlety

    Well I think the only sensible comment to this stupid policy is that they will have to pry the Kebab out of my cold dead hands.

    No doubt if Will starts to have personal problems in the bedroom he’ll demand we all give up sex too.

    How the Hell did Mr Hutton get his job? Has he ever written anything that is not utterly simplistic? How on Earth can I find a publisher to pay for me to go on a two week jolly to China, eat some nice meals, chat to a few guys in bars and produce a book?

  7. Will Hutton a) lives in Oxfordshire – not Surrey and b) Is definitely not an Economist. He initially worked as a stock analyst in the city at the firm where I worked (as an Economist) in the 1980’s. His Wikki entry highlights his interest in A level Economics but I am unsure of his degree – or even if he has one. He is a very successful journalist with access – a powerful combination. However, he is not (IMHO) a very good economist

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